Since the airing of a General Motors advertisement during last Sunday?s Super Bowl, which featured a GM factory robot who gets laid off, becomes depressed and then attempts suicide, our Foundation has been inundated with calls and emails about the offensive nature of the ad.
Our position is that this ad is insensitive to people who have lost a loved one to suicide. Further, while the commercial stresses GM?s ?obsession with quality,? we feel the ad showed carelessness by portraying suicide as a viable option when someone fails or loses their job. This is the wrong message to send to adolescents in general, or to young people and adults alike who may be depressed and thinking that suicide is their only option, rather than seeking help.
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We have expressed our concerns to GM in a letter to the company ‘s executives requesting that GM pull this ad and cease any further promotion and marketing of it, including taking the ad off the company?s website. Our Foundation also encouraged GM to issue a statement of apology to those offended by the ad.
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Also, the Foundation? issued a press release today publicly stating our concerns, and posted an article about the ad on the AFSP website homepage.
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The link below will direct you to the AFSP website where you can read more about this issue, and also find a link to the GM website where you can send the company an email expressing your concerns. Read AFSP’s statement to General Motors.
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It is important for GM to hear from families and friends affected by mental illness and suicide.
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Thank you,
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Bob Gebbia
Executive Director
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention